


After All This Time

by AlAngel



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bad Parenting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, maybe some emotional h/c? probably some emotional h/c actually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 13:01:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14105952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlAngel/pseuds/AlAngel
Summary: Request: Will u pls do a tony stark + reader where they r childhood friend? But after his parents death, u eventually grew apart. Now as part of avengers, tony met again with reader. It was awkward. But they r glad to be able to meet again. Make it fluff/angst pls.





	After All This Time

Title: After all this time  
Characters: Tony Stark x friend!Reader, mentions of Pepper, Tony’s parents  
Word Count: ~2.2k  
Warnings: none I can think of, maybe some emotional h/c? probably some emotional h/c actually  
Request: Will u pls do a tony stark + reader where they r childhood friend? But after his parents death, u eventually grew apart. Now as part of avengers, tony met again with reader. It was awkward. But they r glad to be able to meet again. Make it fluff/angst pls.  
…  
“Tony…” Your voice was trembling. You wanted to say something, anything, but you couldn’t. There were no words left to let him know how much you wanted for him to smile at you again.  
“Thank you for coming, (y/n)” He said, voice stoic and his usually bright brown eyes barely meeting yours. His back was straight and he looked so distant in his black suit. This wasn’t the adventurous young boy you had spent so much time with, this was a young man who had lost both parents at once in a terrible accident. A man who was grieving for what he had lost, but couldn’t because all eyes laid on him prying for him to show weakness. You never had envied Tony for being the son of such influential and public people as the Starks, but you had also never felt sorry for him the way you did in the moment.  
The feeling must have reflected in your eyes, because you saw Tony shut down almost immediately. He had a reserved face before, but that was nothing compared to the sudden blankness. Without realising it you had done the worst thing possible, pitied him for something he tried so hard to stand above.  
You always knew about his strained relationship with his father. They never shared a deep bond like all those picture book families did. You hadn’t exactly either with your always busy and working parents, but for Tony it seemed just that much harder. Their loss must have stirred up a crazy mix between having something gone that he hadn’t exactly paid much attention to anyway and loosing something that even without knowing it had been such a constant and driving force in his life.  
“Glad you came” His words were betrayed by his cold tone. You weren’t sure what he had expected, but letting him see your worry and sadness for the things that happened to him and must surely grief him, weren’t it. His words to you were a clear dismissal, one that felt more final than it should have considering how close you always assumed the two of you were.  
You tried again to reach out for him, give his hand a quick squeeze, silently telling him you’d be there whatever he needed. Tony, however, coiled away from your grip. His eyes already on the next person in line to give him their condolences.  
That was the last time you saw him for years.

It was strange seeing him again after such a long time. He looked older of course, that is what time does to people after all. But he also looked more mature while his boyish charm never left him. You remembered endless afternoons spent in comfortable companionship while your parents worked with Tony’s father on some project. You had been young and never questioned what exactly it was they did, all you knew was that you enjoyed the time spent at Stark Mansion.  
You felt pulled right back into those old memories as you saw him on the hellicarrier. You didn’t exactly keep tabs on him after you stopped seeing each other almost daily, but with all the media constantly swarming him it had also been hard to miss grand steps in his life. You didn’t like some of the choices he made, bad press and the constant escapades surrounded him for years and you had always frowned in disappointment over what happened to the charismatic, sweet boy you knew. However you hated the news about him missing in Afghanistan even more. Even the playboy who seemed to throw money left and right out of the window deserved better than that.  
You still couldn’t believe that Tony had become Iron Man. You had always known he was brilliant, but the extent of his brilliance and willingness to fight to stay alive had astonished you still. You wished Agent Coulson had taken you along as he went to great Tony back from Afghanistan, a silly dream since your rank didn’t even come close to such a thing. Even if you couldn’t go see your childhood friend you felt immensely glad he hadn’t died out there and you couldn’t help the small flicker of pride on his behalf. Tony had always been resourceful and stubborn as hell.  
Right now he was being just that, his resourceful self. He was bickering with some other scientist on astrophysics as you watched from your post on the bridge. You had risen in rank in the last few years, finally following your parents footsteps inside the organisation they devoted their time to. Some days you felt bitter about how they had seemed to always choose work over you, something you hadn’t even realised until you didn’t have Tony anymore to keep you distracted from the fact that they weren’t there. In a way Tony had been family.  
“Stark or the cute scientist?” Your friend suddenly leaned over to whisper in your ear “Who are you staring at, (y/n)?”  
“Neither” You tried to lie, but she just poked you in the side. Of course your best friend and SHIELD comrade would see right through you. Even a trained spy had a hard time lying to their friends – Or was that just you?  
“It’s the scientist, right? Cute glasses, obviously good looking though he doesn’t notice himself…”  
“Sounds more like your type than mine” You giggled still trying to deflect. You had never told anyone inside SHIELD about your shared past with Tony. Though you suspected it was no coincidence you had the bridge shift right as the bunch of heroes was meeting. Fury had a way of knowing things, especially the ones that weren’t his business, and it was probably no secret in the higher ranks who your parents had worked with and on what.  
“So Stark then?” Now she giggled too, not even denying her attraction “You know he’s trouble and apparently trying to go steady with his assistant last I read.”  
“You’re really are a gossip goose, aren’t you?”  
“You know what they say ‘Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it right back’”  
“You’re impossible”  
Both of your laughed light and you successfully pried your eyes off Tony. You had been friends what felt like a millions years ago. Surely he wouldn’t even remember or recognise you after all this time. Not every friendship was meant to last a lifetime. Yours clearly hadn’t been.  
“Can I have some silence on my ship” Fury’s one eye was transfixed on you and your friend, immediately terminating your cheerful silly gossip. All of you knew what was at stake today and you felt a little guilty for taking it so lightly. The man who had stolen whatever military secret from that base you shouldn’t even know existed was in your custody sure, but the way Fury’s good eye twitched this was far from over.  
“Sorry, sir” You mumbled and turned immediately back to your station. From the corner of your eyes you saw your friend do the same and for a moment you considered the issue over.   
“(y/n)” Tony’s voice was clear and obviously side-tracked from their current mission. You could feel his surprised eyes on you before you hesitantly turned to meet them. Surprise was only one of the emotions visible in his brown orbs, confusion and a hurtful suspicion was prominent too.  
“Hello, Tony” You smiled weakly, just looking at him made you deep down feel that nothing had changed since the last time you saw him. You parted ways on rather cold terms and the fact that you ran into him again as part of the very organisation that brought you together in the first place through your parents was not just an irony lost on both of you. It was a well-known fact how Tony Stark felt about SHIELD and their way of doing things. One look was all it took to know he had easily thrown you in with the manipulative lot. Trying to hide your hurt you turned back to your station without another word. 

The meeting on the bridge had just been called off, too much temper and too many opinions let only to heated discussion and no actual solutions. You had slipped out towards the ends, going to the bathroom. At first you thought seeing Tony again was something you could handle, but the longer you saw him fight with the others – especially the tall blonde with the broad shoulders had no idea who Tony Stark was and what he was capable of – you needed to get away. Watching Tony from afar through the media was one thing, but seeing his face again, hearing his voice was so different. Something inside you just wanted to run up to him and hug him tight, holding onto him for dear life, but you knew better of course.  
Trying to shake of the weird feeling of seeing him up close after so much time you didn’t watch your steps. The corridor had seemed to be empty, so there shouldn’t have been a problem in letting your thoughts run for a brief moment longer before returning to your post and focusing on your job instead of all those memories. Luck, however, wasn’t in your favour. You ran into someone, both of you lost in thought. Looking up you were met with stormy brown eyes.  
“It’s so strange seeing you again after all this time” Tony looked at you, his expression unreadable.  
“It is” You agreed, not sure what to say.  
“So you’re with SHIELD now?” You didn’t like the tone in his voice. Of course Tony would suspect something shady going on simply by the fact that someone from his past worked for an organisation he obviously didn’t fully trust. You hated how suspicious he was of you. You had thought you lost him years ago, but by the look of it there was still something left to loose after all.  
“My dad suggested I train as an agent” You said quietly, not meeting his eyes. It didn’t matter anymore, not really, but you wanted him to just know. You couldn’t stand the idea of him losing faith in you, it was all you had left, the memories that a long time ago you both had been good. You often wondered if your life would have taken a different course if Tony had still been around for the later part of your life. You met his eyes with a determined spark, trying hard to not voice the spark of bitterness you felt. “Since I was not cut out to be a scientist like him and mom.”  
“How is your family?” He asked rather awkward, an almost unnoticeable strain in his voice. Right, family was still a sensitive topic. You really weren’t good at this.  
“I don’t know” Your mouth twitched in a strained motion “Haven’t seen them since Christmas.”  
“That long?” His eyes widened and for a brief moment you saw your best friend again, a spark of concern and warmth in his chocolate brown eyes. You’d give so much to turn time back and be friends again. Tony had always been the only one who understood what being born into a family that didn’t exactly prioritise their children’s needs meant.  
“I’m still counting on them figuring out that it was my birthday two months ago – Might get me some free dinner.”  
“(your birthday date), right?” You nodded and he paused. His eyes studied you intently and you just let him. His smart brain needed to process and catch up on everything that happened.  
“I…” He got there, but you shook your head.  
“It’s alright” You told him gently “It’s the way they are. Just… I never pitied you, okay? I guess I also can’t say I know you felt that day either, but…”  
“I couldn’t take another person pitying me for something I was so unsure how to even feel about. They were gone, but it isn’t like they had been there much before.” Tony swallowed thickly “I shouldn’t have pushed you away.”  
“You needed the space” You said, though your words sounded hollow to your own ears.  
“That’s not true. I needed a friend who could understand. But I couldn’t ask you to be that friend.” Again a thick swallow “I lost two people I was supposed to be close to without a warning. The idea of losing someone I actually cared about out of nowhere…”  
You waited him out. The watery look in his eyes and the way his voice wavered told you about the whirlwind of emotions inside him. This wasn’t easy for him. Not after all this time. “I pushed you away because it was a controlled loss. No surprise, no way for it to be another unpredictable cut.”  
“Tony…”  
“Let me take you out for your birthday dinner. After we save the world.” He suddenly said, determination in his voice “If I learned anything over the past years it’s that life is precious and second chances are meant to be used instead of wasted. Afghanistan gave me a second chance to be a better person and I want my best friend to meet that new person.” There was something resembling a faint blush on his cheeks “We used to be all the family we both had and I’m beginning to realise that maybe it’s all the family we actually needed.”


End file.
